


Darkened Heart

by MilayaMilenZeal



Series: MIA Brother [5]
Category: Phantasy Star Online Episode I&II, Spectrobes
Genre: Doppelganger stuff, F/M, Original Character Death(s), Post-Game(s), minimal spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-14
Updated: 2017-01-14
Packaged: 2018-09-17 11:00:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9320639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MilayaMilenZeal/pseuds/MilayaMilenZeal
Summary: After Commander Marks is notified that they've found Rex's location, Rallen and Jeena make haste for his location; an uninhabited planet known as Ragol. But when they reached Ragol, they found that the planet wasn't as uninhabited as they'd been told...





	1. Chapter 1

As the darkness descended upon the planet’s surface, all of its fauna began to prepare itself for the coming night. Those who were nocturnal awoke from their slumber and prepared themselves to take off once the sun’s rays had completely disappeared, while all others tucked themselves in for a well-deserved rest.

But there was one being that did neither…

It was not nocturnal, but it also was not a creature who roamed during the daytime. It was a creature capable of being active both in light and dark, and at this time, it was wandering the planet in silence, walking on two legs, with two of its limbs folded around its torso, as though to ward off the oncoming chill that the night promised to bring. It had no real fur of its own, and only had hair of a fiery orange-red color that came from its head to rest along its back, and instead of its own fur, it wore the furs of other beings it had killed to keep itself warm. Its eyes were a golden-orange in color, and they appeared weary, as though they wished to slide shut and not open again for a long time.

It walked slowly, and as the sun disappeared and the stars were seen, it stepped into a part of the planet that was different from the norm. There was no nature there; no plants, no trees, no grass, only cold rock and steel.

And no life…

It flinched briefly when something gave a loud crunch beneath its foot, and it jumped sideways instinctively. Once it had calmed itself, it breathed out slightly in relief, and then continued to walk, its body shaking as the cold began to sink in, finally.

It continued to walk, even when its movements became more and more sluggish, until, finally, it collapsed, but it breathed again in relief, glad that it had arrived where it had been going to.

“… _hah_ … _hah… hah…_ I… can’t go… home… can’t… go… home…” it choked out, as water rolled out from its eyes. “…Rall… Lizzy… I’m… sorry… I can’t… keep my… promise… fare…well…”

 

**_SNAP_ **

“Urgh! Dammit, stupid styluses these days…” Commander Liz Marks growled as she tossed the broken stylus into the trash.

The woman sighed as she ran a hand through her long bangs as they tried to obscure her vision, before they were tucked behind her ear. She accidentally brushed over her eyepatch, and the contact made her flinch momentarily, but she shook it off and reached for her drawer to get a new stylus.

Most people on Kollin knew only how to type, but Liz preferred to write the words down when she had the time. But since typing it over again took so long, she wrote onto a pad that immediately read the “written” words into typed ones. It wasn’t 100% accurate, but Liz could hardly care about that.

As she retrieved a new stylus from her drawer, however, she paused, then turned and looked out the window. It was already dark out, but she had been working overtime to finish her work.

When the stylus had broken, she could’ve sworn she’d also felt a chill run down her spine… something that seemed to happen whenever something bad was about to happen.

“…”

Just then, her comm link suddenly rang, and she cursed, before reaching over and flipping the switch. “Marks.”

“ _Liz, you might want to wake Rallen up,_ ” Grant’s voice called. “ _We found him._ ”

“Found wh–…are you serious?” Liz whispered breathlessly as she realized what Grant was talking about.

“ _Yes. After the scanners were enhanced with Kaio’s technology, we picked up his pod’s signature just outside of Nanairo._ ”

“…”

“ _Liz? Are you still there?_ ”

“Yes… I’m here… I’ll call Rallen in a bit. He’ll probably want to head out first thing tomorrow, though. Possibly tonight if he can.”

“ _I thought as much. He has my permission to do so. I’ll send you the coordinates in a moment._ ”

“Understood.”

Without another word, Liz hung up again, but once she had, she didn’t move again for a long time, as she frowned in something that could almost be called worry. Eventually, she turned to look out the window again.

“…it couldn’t be… could it…? …Rex…”


	2. Chapter 2

Rallen took a deep breath as he rubbed the back of his neck, exhaling slowly. When he had been summoned from his bed to report to Liz in her office without any prior warnings so late, he wasn’t too sure what to think. Honestly, Rallen wasn’t aware he had done anything that would warrant Liz calling him to her office. Let alone this late. That didn’t happen often…

So, finally, after breathing out slightly in trepidation, he reached out and knocked firmly.

“Enter.”

Rallen immediately did so, shutting the door behind him quickly, something he was known to do when he was nervous. “Um, hey, Commander,” he called out warily. “You uh… you wanted to see me?”

“…Yes, I did, Rallen…” Liz said simply, looking up from her work momentarily. “Grant has issued you and Jeena a special mission, and he insisted I be the one to tell you the details.”

Rallen winced sharply. “I don’t like where this is going… but shoot, what is it?”

“To bring your brother home.”

“……”

Rallen almost– _almost_ –stopped breathing, but his brain reminded him that breathing was still necessary just before he could pass out from lack of air. “…what… d-did you just… say…? The… the mission is… is it really…?”

Liz waited a moment longer, before she opened her mouth again. “They found him, Rallen.”

“……”

Rallen felt almost like he could be knocked over by a feather, and in order to keep his balance he stepped forward a bit and leaned forward on one of the chairs on the other side of Liz’s desk. Even then, though, his legs felt weak and they trembled underneath him.

“Are… are you serious…?” he finally managed to get out.

“…would I joke about this, Rallen?” was the only thing Liz offered in response.

“No… no, you wouldn’t…”

For several long minutes, neither of the two spoke, as Rallen tried to absorb the information he had just been provided. No, Liz was definitely not one to joke about such a serious matter. And yes, his MIA brother was a VERY serious matter… had been for the past 12 years.

When he was finally able to snap out of it, his mouth curled into a smile, one of immense relief, and he tried to hold back, he honestly did, but he just couldn’t do it and he laughed. Liz said nothing, and she merely waited as he laughed, positively relieved and happy as the entire situation finally hit him like a dump truck.

And Liz merely let him do so, until he finally managed to calm himself down again.

Rallen exhaled as he finally managed to stop laughing, and he looked up to Liz with every intention of saying the obvious… but his excitement fell as he took note of the look on the Commander’s face.

“What’s wrong…?” he asked cautiously. “I thought you’d be happy that…”

“I am, Rallen…” Liz murmured. “…but… I have a bad feeling about this…”

That was disconcerting. When Liz had a bad feeling, she was usually onto something, and it often ended less than favorable.

“…how bad?”

“…I’m not sure yet…” Liz admitted. “…but be prepared for anything. Understood?”

“Right… of course.”

Silence followed that for a moment. And then…

“Hey, Liz?”

“Yes?”

“Can I still give you a hug to celebrate?”

At those words, Liz snorted and covered her mouth to prevent her chuckles from being heard, but her shoulders still shook minutely from the effort. Once she could control herself, she looked up with a small smirk. “Yes, you may, Rall.”

Rallen grinned widely at the confirmation, and wasted no time in walking around the desk as Liz stood up from her seat. And the moment he was in reach, he put his arms around the woman in a hug, which was returned after only a moment. They stayed like that for a while, before Rallen finally pulled away.

“Right… so let’s get your Partner in here to discuss the mission, shall we?”

“Sounds cool to me!”

 

Despite the hour, it took only a few minutes for Jeena to report to Commander Marks’ office. And after being brought up to speed with why she was being summoned so late, and being given a coffee to wake up, they got down to the actual mission briefing.

“So where exactly are we going?” Jeena asked after sipping her coffee.

“Right here,” Liz said, activating a holographic screen. This brought up the image of a planet that was mostly covered in almost endless jungles and deep blue oceans. “This is Ragol. It’s a planet located just outside of Nanairo. We were recently able to locate it after upgrading the scanners with Kaio’s technology. To our knowledge, it’s uninhabited, but we haven’t had time to explore it as of yet.”

“Sooo… we get to explore a bit, too?” Rallen quipped with a grin.

“If you can find the time, feel free,” Liz said simply. “However, I needn’t remind you that finding Rex is your first priority.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it.”

Jeena allowed a small giggle, before she focused back on Liz as she typed in something on her computer and pulled out a disc. “The coordinates are on here. I suggest you go through the Portal Point to save some time.” After Jeena took said disc from her, Liz asked: “Any questions?”

“Nope!”

“None at this point.”

“Good. You’re dismissed.”

 

“Arf!” Komainu barked as he hopped after Rallen and Jeena as they moved about, preparing the cruiser.

“Sure you don’t wanna wait, Jeena?” Rallen asked as he shut the compartments.

“I’m fine. I’m awake anyway, so let’s just move on, shall we?” Jeena quipped with a small smile. “Let’s just go get your brother back.”

Rallen laughed as they headed for the cockpit after shutting the hatch. And after only a few minor checks, they took off for Ragol.

 

As they left the hangar and, effectively, Kollin behind, Liz stood by the window of her office, watching as the cruiser became little more than a dot in the sky and faded out of view in barely a minute. She was biting the side of her thumb, a deep frown on her face that was both thoughtful and worried. The feeling she’d been getting ever since Grant had given her the news wasn’t dissipating. If anything, it was only getting stronger and stronger.

And she didn’t like it. Not one bit.

“…something’s wrong…” she murmured. “…something is _very_ wrong…”

 

The trip to the Portal Point took them less than half an hour, and the jump through it even less than 5 minutes, though they did need a moment or two to recompose themselves afterward, because it was _not_ a fun experience to jump through those portals in the slightest. Once they had picked their stomachs back up, they settled back with a collective sigh, and then regarded their goal.

“Well, there it is…” Rallen murmured as they regarded the planet in front of them. “Ragol, huh?”

“That’s what Liz called it,” Jeena confirmed as she ran a few quick scans of the surface. “I’m not picking up any chatter. Think she was right; it’s likely uninhabited.”

“Man… hope Rex is alright down there… I wouldn’t know how to deal with things if I was stuck on a planet like that,” Rallen mumbled.

Jeena didn’t even bother replying to that and instead did a few more scans. “…There we go. I found a distress beacon.”

At that, Rallen perked up. “You think it’s him?”

“Well, it’s definitely from a Nanairo escape pod, so I would assume so.” After settling back, she turned to Rallen. “Shall we go?”

“Roger! Iku ze!!”

And with that, the cruiser shot off toward Ragol.

 

“ _Bee-beep!!_ ”

“Easy, Sato,” a casual voice chuckled out as a lone figure made his way through the crowded streets, stretching his limbs over his head, before running a hand through his long, orange hair. “Phew… right. Guess it’s no use beating around the bush any longer… Let’s get down to Ragol, eh?”

“ _Bee-bee-beep!!_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short introductory chapter. Next chapter will be somewhat longer.


	3. Chapter 3

Reaching Ragol was easy enough for the pair of NPP officers, but finding a place to land was a little harder. The vast jungles that littered the land below them only rarely let up, and even then, the clearing they provided was nowhere near the size they needed to land.

“Seriously?” Rallen mumbled to himself as they passed by another clearing. “You’d think it’d be easy to land someplace…”

“Oh it would…” Jeena quipped, but when Rallen looked over, she added, “if we weren’t concerned with disturbing the environment.”

Rallen rolled his eyes with a snort. “Right… what’s nature gonna do to us if we don’t? Set our ship on fire?” This time Jeena rolled her eyes.

However, before she could offer a rebuttal, their ship suddenly pitched forward, making them yowl in surprise. Thankfully, Rallen was a good enough pilot that he got them out of the nosedive that would’ve surely followed otherwise, swiftly leveling the cruiser out.

“What the hell just happened?!” he demanded as Jeena quickly accessed the systems.

“Something just hit the tail… I’m not sure wha—”

She didn’t get the chance to finish as the ship pitched again, and this time, alarms began blaring and the warning lights flashed to life.

“Oh shit…!” Jeena hissed. “The right thruster’s down!”

“Yeah, I noticed!” Rallen grunted as he struggled to keep the cruiser steady. “Urgh! No choice! I’m taking us down!”

“Rallen!! There’s nowhere for us to—”

“Then I’ll make one, goddammit!! We’ll be dead if I don’t!!”

Rallen didn’t offer Jeena the time to argue further and pushed the controls forward, sending the cruiser in a swift descent. Jeena winced as she faintly heard the cracking of branches snapping under their cruiser as it touched the tops of the trees. But that wasn’t even the least of their worries as their ship then pitched even further down and tore through the trees, filling their vision with brown and green as the ship shook so badly that they’d swear they on ground in the middle of an earthquake.

And then, they stopped and their seatbelts snapped them both back against the seats.

The silence that followed was filled with the two officers’ heavy, labored breathing as they tried to calm their heartrates to the point where they could talk properly again. Which took Jeena about five minutes.

“You… idiot!!”

“Wha… what did you want me to do!?” Rallen managed to gasp out. “You wanted me to let the ship crash or something?!”

Jeena tried to speak again, but she had no rebuttal to the words, so she just leaned forward, gasping for breath. Her partner was equally trying to collect his breath, and, really, what was she doing blowing up on him? He was right; had he not done what he had, they might’ve actually crashed and wouldn’t have lived to yell at each other.

She didn’t get the chance to apologize, though, as Rallen unbuckled from his seat, set Komainu on the ground, and stood up. After a moment of holding his head, he turned to the exit and said: “I’m gonna check the damage to make sure we can still fly.”

Jeena only nodded her head, before she cradled it as the dizziness began to kick in. “Ugh… what a way to start the day…”

 

After Rallen ran a quick scan of the perimeter for potential hostiles, and ran a check on oxygen levels (just to be sure they could actually breathe out there), he opened the hatch and stepped outside. The density of the air was the first thing to hit him and he gasped in slight surprise before he managed to calm himself down again. The humidity of the jungle weighed down on him, but he shook it off to focus on more important issues.

Such as the status of their ship.

Despite his lack of technical finesse when it came to serious issues with the cruisers, Rallen could already tell from a glance that they would not be able to fly as things were right now. The thruster was toast, and it looked like someone had taken a blowtorch to it and set it on fire. Not to mention the trees had ripped a few holes in the hull, and while those could be easily fixed, flying with them was not a smart choice.

The one good thing about the whole thing was that the damage was minimal enough that it could be fixed relatively quickly. Provided, of course, that they had all tools and parts at their disposal.

“Man… this sucks…” he mumbled to himself as he studied the hull a little better. “If we can’t fix this here, _we_ might be the ones needing rescue here….”

“….grrrrrrr…”

At that sound, Rallen snapped his gaze toward the source – which turned out to be Komainu, of all things – with  a frown. “Hey, Komainu! Would you calm down? We just—”

However, before Rallen could finish, Komainu started barking.

“Komai--…huh?”

What had given Rallen pause was the fact that he was now picking up what Komainu had already noticed; the rustling of leaves. And not lightly, either. As he looked around, he realized that the undergrowth around the ship was shaking less than subtly now. Added to that was a subtle sound much like Komainu’s; growling.

“…oh crap…” Rallen whispered as he slowly curled his right fist, preparing himself for whatever was out there. Because whatever it was, it was not there to make friends.

 

“ _Bee-bee-bee-beep!_ ”

“I know, Sato! Easy, easy… yeesh. What kind of moron decided it was a smart idea to fly down onto Ragol?” the man asked softly to himself as he clambered over rocks and branches. “That’s like you’re just begging to be shot down…” After releasing a heavy sigh, the man shook his head softly. “Well, whatever. May’s well be a good Samaritan and help out. Wonder if I’m too nice of a guy sometime…”

**_BANG_ **

“FUCK!” After a moment of thought, the man snarled cursed. “ _Goddammit!_ What the heck?!”

However, just then, a piercing howl ripped through the air and he froze.

“Wolves… _fuck!_ If the whole pack’s out there… _sheeeeiiit!_ ”

 

The first gunshot already snapped Jeena out of the light stupor she had been in, but the howl got rid of the remainder of her drowsiness and she immediately bolted up – after unbuckling her seatbelt – to rush outside. When she got there, she froze in a combination of shock and terror.

Surrounding their cruiser was a pack of large, menacing wolves. But they weren’t the type of wolves she remembered from her many trips to the zoo. No, these had heavy, leathery hides rather than fur, and their eyes were an icy blue completely. There were a few of them that had a dark blue back, which looked to be much stronger than their brown-backed brethren.

And currently, they were all circling the cruiser, their gazes trained on Rallen and teeth bared in furious, threatening snarls.

Rallen, for his part, was doing his best to keep them back. The first shot had been meant to scare off one of the wolves, and while it had initially leaped away from the shot, it hadn’t turned tail and fled. In fact, the warning only seemed to aggravate the entire pack even further. The NPP officer was cursing and snapping his gun left and right from wolf to wolf as he tried to gauge which of them was going to pounce first, because they damn well looked ready to do just that.

‘Shit shit shit shit! Think we just crashed right into their territory…! Of all the rotten luck!’

Jeena was smart enough to stay back for the moment, staying as silent as she could, even covering her mouth to keep from breathing too hard. If these wolves were Krawl, she would’ve summoned a few Spectrobes and would’ve joined Rallen in the fight, but these weren’t Krawl; they were just animals protecting their turf.

That didn’t make the situation any better though…

Especially when the first wolf suddenly lunged for Rallen without as much as a bark.

And Rallen reacted purely on instinct; whipping around and firing at the lunging wolf. The shot immediately pierced its head through its eye and it dropped to the ground as Rallen darted to the side. However, in the time that that had happened, the next wolf had lunged, forcing Rallen to start shooting at it, and then the others that followed. And while he tried to merely incapacitate them, but they just kept coming.

‘Dammit! What the hell?! We have to—’

“Rallen! Behind you!”

The shout immediately had Rallen whirling around, but by the time he had, the wolf was already in range and closed its jaws around his arm. Thankfully, it got a mouthful of gauntlet rather than actual flesh, but its momentum was still enough to throw Rallen onto the ground.

“Argh! _Dammit!! GET OFF!!_ ” he shouted as he punched the wolf to its head as it tried to rip off his arm.

Sadly, the wolf only yipped briefly, then growled and chomped down so hard that Rallen actually heard the gauntlet crack under its fangs.

“Oh are you _kidding_ me?!”

“ _KYAAAAH!!_ ”

At that, panic flared in Rallen’s chest as he whipped his head around as best as he could. “ _JEENA!!_ ” he shouted, spotting the wolves that were now going straight for her, before he turned back to the one having him pinned. “GET **_OFF!!_** ” he roared, snapping his arm sideways as fast as he could, smashing the wolf’s skull against the ground.

This finally had it letting go with a yelp, which was cut short as Rallen shot it in its skull out of frustration, before he scrambled to his feet. Jeena was already trying to fend them off with her own gun, but they were just so damn persistent.

Furious that these beasts would dare attack his partner like that, Rallen snapped his arm out, immediately switching his gun for his sword as he ran for them. He didn’t even hesitate before driving his blade into one of the blue wolves’ sides, making it yowl in pain, just before Rallen threw it away. Shockingly yet thankfully, this made the other wolves jump away.

“You okay!?” Rallen asked as he got beside his partner, with Komainu sticking behind Jeena.

“Y-yeah… I-I’m okay,” Jeena got out.

Before Rallen could say anything else, though, the pack of wolves suddenly reared back and howled in fury, instantly putting the pair on edge, especially when the beasts once more surrounded them.

“Oh come _on!!_ What’s it gonna take to get you guys to bug off?!” Rallen snarled out.

Just as one of them made to lunge again, though, it got hit in the head with a rock, making it yowl.

“ _HEY YOU BITCHES!!_ ” came a loud voice from beyond the trees, making the beasts turn around with furious snarls. “Why don’t you pick on someone of your own size for once!?”

Whether the wolves understood it or not, they immediately shifted targets and rushed at the voice.

“Look out!!” Jeena shouted worriedly. “They’re not—”

“Gotcha!!” laughed the same voice from before. And then… “ _GIZONDE!!_ ”

Rallen and Jeena might’ve blinked once, but in that short span of time, the wolves were each thrown back by a burst of electricity. They lay spasming for a while longer, and then stilled.

There was a small sigh of relief from the undergrowth, before a single figure emerged from them, pushing aside some branches. “You guys alright there?”

“Y-yeah… thanks for the assist…” Rallen breathed out as he leaned forward on his knees. “They just… wouldn’t back off…”

“As none of the creatures here do,” said the voice as its owner stepped into the clearing, walking over the wolves’ corpses. “The hell were you thinking flying in here, anyway?”

Jeena frowned in annoyance at that. “Well excuse us for—!! A-ah?!”

“Jeena?” Rallen asked as he looked to his partner. However, she was staring straight at the new arrival with a look of shock on her face. And when Rallen looked as well, his expression mirrored hers.

“…what?” the man asked, reaching up and running a hand through his orange hair. “Do I got something on my face?”

“…R… Rex?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun-dun-duuuun. Also, for those not as familiar with PSO, below are a few things to note;
> 
> PSO enemies introduced:  
> Furious Wolves – The brown-skinned wolves. Not overly difficult to deal with; they merely circle around and try to lunge at you at times.  
> Barbarous Wolves – The blue-backed wolves. They work roughly the same as Furious Wolves, only when one of these goes down, the remaining wolves cast Jellen and Zalure on themselves… making them weaker. …eh?
> 
> PSO skills introduced:  
> Gizonde – A mid-level thunder spell. Attacks all enemies that the caster is currently looking at with a lightning chain.


	4. Chapter 4

The man standing in front of them amidst the dead wolves had shoulder-length orange-reddish hair, carried some sort of staff in his right hand, and wore some sort of ceremonial, purple robe. The torso section of the robe was white with lighter purple stripes running diagonally along the chest and two smaller horizontal ones over the abdomen, making it look almost like a face. He wore long dark purple, fingerless gloves under his sleeves, with the left one having pinkish-purple markings running along the wrist area. He also had a hat that rested snugly along his head, with a blue triangle placed along his forehead.

The last notable fact was the golden disc secured to his collarbone, upon which a dark purple emblem was displayed,

“…who now?” the man questioned, blinking twice as he adjusted his hat. “Dude, I think you’ve got the wrong guy. I’ve never seen either of you in my life.”

“What are you—…”

Rallen quickly cut himself off as he looked a little closer. While the man did in fact look like Rex – almost freakishly so, mind you! – when he looked closer, he realized that the eyes were off. Sure, the shape was the same, as was the rest of his face, really… but they were blue. And Rex’s eyes were the same as Rallen’s; orange-gold.

“I… sorry… I thought…” Rallen tried not to let it get to him, but that wasn’t easy. He really had been thinking that this guy was Rex, which would’ve made their trip much easier already, but of _course_ it couldn’t be that easy. “Sorry…”

Jeena frowned worriedly at her partner, unsure what she could say to make things any better,

“ _Bee-bee-beep!_ ”

Upon that noise, the NPP officers jumped, but the man merely looked back over his shoulder, saying: “Easy, Sato.”

This brought their attention to the thing that was hovering by the man’s shoulder. It looked almost like a purple, mechanical cat, and it was bobbing up and down behind the man as if in excitement. However, instead of quieting down, it started beeping again.

“…oh alright,” the man chuckled, as he reached for his left wrist and fiddled with something there for a moment. “Here you go, buddy,” he quipped then as he slipped a small tube into a slot on the side of the small cat.

“ _Bee-beep-beep!_ ”

The man laughed as the cat bobbed a few more times, before he turned to Rallen and Jeena. And then his amusement faded. “…Wait a tick… you guys aren’t Hunters, are you?”

“Hunters?” Jeena repeated, confused.

Rallen rubbed the back of his head as he asked: “Uh… hunters of what?”

This made the man snort with a small chuckle. “Guess that answers that…” he chuckled out as he stuck his staff in the ground and then leaned against it casually. “So where are you from, then?”

Jeena and Rallen regarded each other for a moment, before they nodded at each other.

“We’re from the Nanairo system,” Jeena explained. “We came through a portal to… look for someone.”

The man blinked twice, before let out a drawn out “oh”. “Nanairo, huh? Quite a ways from home, then, ain’t ya?” he quipped with a small smile. “And when you say ‘someone’… I’m assuming it’s this… ‘Rex’ you just confused me with, huh?”

“Yeah,” Rallen said with a nod. “Though uh… we were under the assumption that this place was… uninhabited.”

“Guess the information on that was wrong…” Jeena murmured.

“Oh no, you’re right,” the man suddenly said, drawing their attention. “It’s not. At least… not at this moment.” As he finished saying that, though, his eyes suddenly widened and he stood up straight. “Oh crap, where’re my manners? Name’s Xerran. Pleased to meet you.”

“Ah, um… Yeah. Nice to meet you,” Jeena said with a nod. “I’m Jeena, and this is Rallen.”

Rallen merely nodded as he regarded Xerran for a moment longer. He just couldn’t get over the fact of how much this guy looked like Rex. Hell, now that he thought about it, the first part of his name was his brother’s name in reverse.

“Arf!” came a familiar bark suddenly, making Rallen jump as he looked down. “Hey, easy, boy,” he said as he bent down and petted Komainu.

Xerran chuckled at the sight. “Oh? Pet of yours, I take it?”

“Arf!”

“Something like that,” Rallen said as he picked the small Spectrobe up. “This is Komainu.”

The robed man nodded his head briefly, before he came over to the cruiser and looked over the damage. “…huh. Looks like the Hildebears got you good, huh?”

“Hilde-what?” Rallen questioned.

“Hildebears,” Xerran repeated. “Big hulking buggers, really… But anyway!” Shaking the matter off, Xerran turned to them properly. “Since you’re stranded right now, I think it’s better to get you some help to get this thing fixed.”

“Yeah, that might be wise…” Jeena murmured thoughtfully. However, one look at her partner, and she threw the idea out the window. “But before we do that, we need to find Rex’s escape pod.”

Rallen looked at Jeena strangely for a moment, before it turned into one of gratitude.

“‘Escape pod’?” Xerran repeated, a small frown on his face. “…this have to do with why you’re here initially?”

“Yeah,” Rallen murmured. “Apparently, my brother’s escape pod crashed somewhere around here. So… yeah, we’re trying to find it.”

Jeena looked like she was about to say something else, but Xerran’s next exclamation stopped her.

“Okay, cool!” he said with a grin. “I’m down here looking in on some unknown signal anyway. So, since it looks like we might be going after the same thing, what say we team up for now?”

“Are you serious?” Jeena asked with a frown. As helpful as Xerran had been, she wasn’t sure if they could trust him right away. It was all just a little too coincidental. “Well… it’s appreciated, but—”

“Sounds good!” Rallen interrupted.

“Rallen!”

“Oh c’mon, Jeena. We’d be safer with more people in this place,” Rallen pointed out. When she remained skeptical, he added: “And besides, he probably knows his way around the place.”

“Better than you two, anyway,” Xerran laughed.

Realizing that she had nothing to argue with, Jeena finally sighed. “Fine. Let’s go.”

As she made to walk off, though, Xerran quipped: “Would advise you to shut the ship, by the way,” while pointing to the ship. “Trust me; you don’t want what’s out there inside.”

“Ah, right…”

Once they had shut and locked the hatch, the pair walked after Xerran as he walked just slightly ahead of them, with the mechanical cat – Sato, was it? – hovering by his shoulder and with Komainu at their heels.

 

“Huh… there’s a lot less trees here…” Rallen murmured suddenly.

They’d been walking for a few minutes already, mostly in silence, oddly enough. The few conversations they had were often cut short when Xerran pointed out that they were better off keeping things as quiet as possible to avoid attracting any unwanted attention.

“Yeah,” Xerran said softly as he walked, glancing around slowly. “…looks like we’re in Booma turf… greaaaat.”

“Uh… ‘Booma turf’?” Jeena repeated, not sure if she liked the way he said it.

“Hmhmm…” Xerran briefly adjusted his grip on his staff. “Try not to get surrounded. These things are deadly if you let ‘m. Even if they are slow...”

“Oookay…?” Rallen murmured, but he got out his sword anyway.

Jeena, after a moment of thought, pulled out her gun. Xerran silently took a few steps back until he was by their side again, still looking around cautiously, with both hands gripping his staff.

“ ** _Graaaaaooooorrr!!_** ”

“Aaand there they are!” Xerran snarled as he whirled around and aimed his staff, shortly before he shouted: “ _BARTA_!”

This had a burst of ice flying straight ahead, striking one of the… _things_ now coming their way.

It looked somewhat like a small bear, only its pointed face was located on its chest area and their talons were much longer than they should be.

“ _That_ is a Booma?” Rallen choked out as he brought up his sword.

“Yep. …Behind you, Jeena!”

Jeena yowled and whirled around, instinctively letting loose a shot and hitting an approaching Booma in its face. It roared out once more in agony and then fell over. “Th-thanks…!”

“Dun mention it,” Xerran quipped as he regarded the other Booma’s that were now beginning to walk their way. “Think you can put that sword to good use, Rallen?”

Rallen blinked at being addressed, before he grinned. “I’ll be fine. You may want to worry about yourself!”

Xerran laughed as he spun his staff in his hand once, even as Rallen darted forward, ducked under a swing from a Booma and then sliced open its side.

“Nice one,” the taller man chuckled, as he rolled his shoulders and bounced a little on his feet with a small cocky grin. “C’mon then! _Andale~andale!_ Let’s play!”

 

Between Jeena’s shooting, Rallen’s swordplay and Xerran’s usage of fire, ice and thunder – however he did _that_ – it really took only a few minutes to clear the area.

“Man!” Rallen breathed out as the last Booma finally bit the dust. “Are they always this violent when you’re in their turf?”

Xerran snorted softly as he leaned on his staff. “They’re violent _everywhere_ … even outside of what is considered _their_ turf… so you may just wanna get used to that. And anything else that comes after your ass.”

Rallen frowned a little at the words. The longer they spent around Xerran, the more he began to notice more similarities between him and Rex. The only real differences he could spot was how Xerran could call upon the elements for help – he had to ask about that one once they had found the pod – and the fact that he cursed a lot more than Rex. Though that latter might not say much; Liz did say once that Rex did have a nasty mouth if he got _really_ angry…

He hoped he’d never have to face that…

“Anyway,” Jeena said, breaking the short silence. “If there aren’t any more, shall we move on?”

“Sounds good,” Rallen quipped with a nod.

Xerran merely hummed as he straightened up again, with Sato beeping by his shoulder. “Right. According to the data we have, it shouldn’t be that far from here. Let’s mosey on along.”

 

Before long, as they were wading through some undergrowth, Sato suddenly started to bob in the air rapidly, beeping like its circuits depended on it. And then, without warning, it flew off.

“HEY!! Get back here, Sato!!” Xerran shouted out, immediately picking up his pace.

Rallen and Jeena shared a look, before they hurried after him. And then, just as suddenly, they ran smack into his back, causing all a domino effect that had all three of them falling forward with yowls of surprise.

“Ow…” Xerran groaned out. “Okay; mighta deserved that…” he grumbled. “Mind getting off, guys?”

“Ugh… sure,” Rallen groaned, as he and Jeena climbed up to their feet. “Why’d you stop, though?”

“Well… I think your lost escape pod’s been confiscated.”

When Rallen and Jeena looked at him oddly, Xerran merely pointed ahead of them. And when they looked past him, Rallen choked in shock,. On the other side of the clearing ahead of them, sat what was clearly a Nanairo escape pod, badly damaged and worn, both from its rough landing and the passage of time. Added to that, the nearby tree had practically cocooned it in its spot.

However, before Rallen could run off to get to it…

“ _Stop!_ ”

Rallen flailed at the air as he tried to stop mid-dash, before he turned around to face Xerran. “Why?!”

“Coz you’re about to step on someone’s babies.”

“Whuh…?”

Xerran didn’t clarify what he meant there, and instead pointed down to Rallen’s feet. When Rallen looked down, he noticed the indents in the ground surrounded by dried grass and twigs, barely covering the white, speckled eggs resting amidst them.

“Oh…”

“Exactly. So; watch your step,” Xerran said simply, as he began to (carefully) step around the nests and toward the pod.

And Rallen and Jeena carefully walked after him, being extra careful with every step. Like that, they slowly made their way to the pod, and finally were in a position where they could examine it thoroughly.

“I see what you mean by ‘confiscated’…” Jeena murmured as she regarded the inside of the pod.

The pod itself was on its side, with deep gashes ripped along the sides, as though something had sliced its claws through it, and the plexiglas covering was shattered. It was difficult to say what had caused the damage, but it was obvious that it was fairly old. Possibly years old, even.

The last thing worth mentioning, was the large nest resting in the remains.

“Huh…” Xerran murmured thoughtfully as he leaned over the side of the pod casually. “Looks like the Raps’re using it for their alpha’s nest.”

“Raps?” Rallen asked, before he frowned. “Is that another creature we’re going to have to fight?”

“Depends… Rag Rappies are less territorial, plus less dangerous… but they can prove themselves to be a pain…” Xerran murmured, before he blinked and looked up. “…speak of the devil.”

“Huh…?”

The NPP officers didn’t have the time to question it, as a sudden chirping from behind had them whipping around in alarm. And Jeena blinked, twice, before she bit her lip sharply to prevent herself from gushing openly at the creatures up ahead.

They were small, pudgy, yellow penguin-like birds, with a pair of feather-like antennae coming from just beside their beaks. They were looking at the group in a way that was almost curious, but at the same time, they looked ready to come right for them if provoked.

“Right… you guys get back here… and watch out for the eggs…” Xerran whispered, gesturing for Rallen and Jeena to walk around the pod. Komainu yipped once and scampered after Rallen, sticking close for now, though he kept his gaze on the birds. “Think these guys remember me from last time…” the taller male murmured as he slowly took a few steps back. “You guys need to see anything else here?”

Rallen looked to Xerran in question, before he turned to regard the pod. It had clearly been there for ages, and if it really had been Rex’s, then he had likely already left long ago. It would be very unlikely that they’d find him here.

As he looked to Jeena, he realized she was likely coming to the same conclusion.

“No…” he admitted. “I don’t think we’ll find him here…”

“Good,” Xerran quipped, before he raised his staff high. “I suggest you close your eyes… Ryuker.”

And suddenly, a flash of light filled their vision, making them cry out and cover their eyes. At the same time, there was a moment where they could swear the ground disappeared from under them, leaving them floating in the air for what felt like ages… before the ground solidified again.

Rallen hissed out a curse under his breath as he blinked his eyes slowly… and openly gawked.

“Rallen, Jeena… allow me to formally welcome you to Pioneer 2.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so that’s the introduction of Xerran, our local Force (explanation of this will follow next chapter). Let me know what you think of him and/or if he seems like a carbon copy of Rex (which was somewhat the point, anyway. ;p ).
> 
> PSO enemies introduced:  
> Booma’s – Human-sized… bears with their faces on their chest. That’s the best way I can think of to describe these. They often come in large numbers and lash out with their claws at you. They’re slow, but if they surround you, there’s really no way to get out, because they will all attack in waves.  
> Rag Rappies – Big, yellow, fluffy penguins with feather antennae. Possibly the most adorable of PSO enemies. You never really kill them; you just knock them out, and then, after a while, they run off. If you hit them before they do, though, they drop loot. :) 
> 
> PSO skills introduced:  
> Barta – A low-level ice spell. Attacks all enemies in a straight line with ice.  
> Ryuker – A teleportation spell. This allows for you to instantly return to base to either sell stuff or finish missions. Note: the item-variant of this is called a “Tele-Pipe”.


	5. Chapter 5

The surrounding area was dark; like it was the middle of the night, but everywhere you looked you could see flashing lights against the dark surfaces. Neon lights pointing to shops and stores, signs lit with words in a tongue that neither NPP officer could read or understand, the buildings towered high above them and amid them, there flew vehicles in perfect pattern, never once crossing paths or causing collisions. There had to be several dozen levels further below, only adding to the feeling of awe that pointed to how big the place truly was.

“Wha… what IS this place?!” Rallen choked out in awe, spinning on his heels more than once as he tried to take everything in.

And Xerran only laughed. “Pioneer 2. This is where we live.”

“Wait…” Jeena murmured thoughtfully, a frown on her face. “I thought you said Ragol was uninhabited.”

Xerran cocked an eyebrow at her, before he chuckled and walked over. “Right… mind if you turn around? No, other way… Yep, right there. Okay, now; look ahead of you. Through those buildings right over there… and then tell me what you see.”

Jeena frowned a bit as she squinted her eyes, uncertain what she was looking for… and then her eyes widened in alarm. “That’s…!”

“What what?” Rallen questioned as he moved over and put his face next to hers to try and see what she did. And when he saw it, he, too, gawked. “Isn’t that… Ragol?”

Beyond the towers that Xerran had pointed out, they could just barely see the dome shape of the very planet they had seen before they had made their descent only a few hours prior. It wasn’t actually moving, or didn’t appear to be, anyway. Maybe it was and it was just so minute that you’d have to be staring for several hours to notice a difference, but there was no significant change.

“Yep,” Xerran laughed. “Pioneer 2… is a colony space ship.” When he had their attention again, he continued with: “We came here to colonize Ragol.”

After a moment of taking that in, Rallen quipped: “Not much luck there, huh?”

“Rallen!” Jeena admonished, but Xerran merely laughed.

“Won’t argue about that one… we _are_ having a hard time.” After removing his hat briefly and running a hand through his hair, Xerran said as he fixed his hat: “Anyway, I need to report to the Hunters’ Guild ‘bout the mission. So let’s get walking, shall we?”

 

The path was pretty straightforward, and it only took them a few minutes to reach what Xerran called the ‘Hunters’ Guild’. It was a fairly basic building, with very little defining features to it, aside from a sign above the large automatic doors.

“Right, you two just wait here, alright? I’ll be right back.”

Xerran waited until they had nodded before turning and stepping through the doors silently; into the room beyond.

As they stood there and waited, with Komainu plopping down next to Rallen, Jeena took a moment more to look around. Despite the vastness of the city they had just witnessed, there was a shockingly low amount of people walking around. And the few that did seemed completely focused on whatever it was that had their attention. No one looked up at anyone else, there were no friendly greetings, or even apologies when they bumped into each other. They merely glanced over briefly, grunted, and then walked on.

The place actually seemed a bit… hostile.

Was this really a good idea…?

“Jeena?”

Startled, Jeena turned around to face Rallen. “Yeah?”

“You okay? You look a little on edge…”

Of course Rallen hadn’t noticed. And maybe that was for the better. Maybe she was just looking too much into things. “I’m okay. I was just—”

Suddenly someone actually bumped into Jeena from behind, almost knocking her over on her face with a yelp, if Rallen hadn’t moved in to catch her.

“Gotcha!” he quipped, before he snapped his gaze up to the person who had just bumped into his partner and was about to walk by without a word said. “Hey!”

Jeena groaned softly as she stood up and turned to the person as well. A woman, by the looks of it, dressed in some sort of blue uniform, the legs cropped up to just above her knees, leaving her shins bare, with the exception of a small black belt of some kind. Her arms were also bare down from her shoulders, and a blue hat of some kind sat diagonally on her head, with her white-blonde hair resting around her chin. The last thing they could see from their current angle was the golden circle placed above her left breast, similar to Xerran’s, though it was difficult to see if there was a similar emblem in it.

Upon Rallen’s call, she paused, but she didn’t look up just yet.

“You just going to walk away like nothing happened or something?!”

“…”

“Least you could do is apologize, yanno?!”

And then the woman turned her head and both NPP officers froze.

“Or… _what?_ ” the woman hissed, her only usable eye glaring glowing amber daggers at the pair, with the other covered up by a triangular eyepatch. “What will you do if I don’t?”

Rallen tried to speak. Honestly, he did. But his voice just up and left him. It was all just too much at once when the realization hit him. First Xerran, who looked so much like Rex that it was almost like they were twins, and now this woman?! Aside from the eye color ( _again!_ ) she was almost a perfect mirror image of Liz!

“Excuse me,” a familiar voice quipped suddenly, and as the two looked up, Xerran stepped up between them and the woman. “Sorry ‘bout that one; first time in the district. You know how that works.”

The woman regarded Xerran with a dark frown. She almost looked like she was about to say anything, but in the end, she merely snorted and walked through the same door that Xerran had just stepped through earlier, completely ignoring all of them.

When she was out of sight, Xerran sighed softly before he turned to the others. “Sorry… probably should’ve warned you ‘bout that.”

At that point, Rallen’s voice seemed to have returned. “About what?”

“We got some… issues, let’s just say,” Xerran said, a half-frown on his face. “People are on edge, and because of that, they’re not very social nowadays.”

Jeena frowned a bit in question, but it was Rallen who spoke up about it. “You mean aside from the trouble with Ragol?”

“Yep,” Xerran murmured. “It’s better you don’t know what’s going on… but anyway.” After briefly waving it off, he quipped: “C’mon; the Principal wants to see you guys.”

“The Principal?” Jeena and Rallen chorused in response.

“Yeah. C’mon.”

 

After another short walk, they came to a teleporter that brought them to what was very reminiscent of the War Room back on Kollin where the NPP officers would be briefed on missions by Grant. At first, anyway; upon closer inspection, it was actually more like a large office of some sort. The man that Xerran called the “Principal” was an elderly man, around Grant’s age, but he looked far older than their Commander.

Xerran had already explained on the way that he’d given some basic info on the situation already, so he was aware of why they were there already. And it was only fair for him to meet with them if he really was the boss of Pioneer 2 to meet with any guests aboard the ship.

As they approached, the Principal stood from his seat and nodded his head before speaking. “Welcome to Pioneer 2, Officers,” he said. “I apologize for what must’ve been a very disturbing first encounter with Ragol’s wildlife.”

“That’s one way to put it…” Rallen mumbled. “Who decided it would be a good idea to pick this place?”

“Rallen!” Jeena hissed softly.

“What?”

The Principal, in response, sighed heavily. “Yes, I can imagine many would question our choice in colony planets… Explaining our reasoning would take, I’m afraid, a considerable amount of time. Xerran?”

“Yes, Sir?” the man asked calmly.

“Would you mind filling them in, later?”

“Of course not, Sir.”

After nodding to the man briefly, he once more turned to Rallen and Jeena. “Now then, I understand from Xerran that you’ve come here to find someone who’s crash-landed on Ragol, correct?”

“Yes,” Jeena said before Rallen could say too much. “He might’ve been here a while already, but we’ve only just been able to trace his pod’s distress signal.”

“I see…” the Principal murmured thoughtfully. “While I understand you must be willing to get back to your search as soon as possible, I would suggest you rest for a moment and get yourself up to speed before you go.”

At this point, Rallen finally had enough of staying silent. “Sorry, but, like you said, I think it’s better to head back as soon as possible. If Ragol’s as dangerous as it seems, I’d rather want him off there quickly.”

“…if I may,” Xerran suddenly quipped, making everyone look at him. “Exactly how long has it been since he went missing?”

Rallen frowned in confusion, before he said: “Twelve years.”

Though the time gap did startle the Principal, Xerran barely flinched. However, what he said next still hit home hard. “Then I hate to break it to you… but if he’s been on Ragol for that long… there’s a good chance you won’t find him again.”

Rallen wanted to retaliate immediately, but the Principal interrupted him by clearing his throat. “Regardless, if you wish to go out again, I’ll not stop you. But I would suggest you to take at least a small break to get a feel for your current surroundings. In the meantime, we will get your ship aboard Pioneer 2 to have it repaired.”

This obviously didn’t sit well with Rallen, but rather than say anything on it, he merely nodded.

“Good. Xerran, would you please show them to the residential district?”

“Yes, Sir,” Xerran said with a nod.

“Alright. You’re dismissed.”

 

“Right… both of you take this,” Xerran said as soon as they were back outside.

“Hm? What’re these?” Rallen asked as he and Jeena accepted what appeared to be a bracelet of some kind from the man.

“You’ll be needing those to get around. They also give you access to the Hunters’ District – where we are now,” Xerran added the last part as he gestured around them. “This is the only place from which you can head down to Ragol, by the by.”

“I guess that’s to make sure people stay safe, right?” Jeena asked as she fastened the bracelet. The item encircled her entire wrist, and as the two pieces connected, it lit up with the same kind of markings that adorned Xerran’s (which was what they had spotted earlier).

“Yeah,” Xerran confirmed. “Pretty as it may be, Ragol’s not someplace you wanna go for a picnic.”

“Right…” Rallen mumbled. He was still a bit annoyed at the fact he wasn’t allowed to look for Rex right away.

Xerran seemed to catch in to this, as he looked over to him and said: “Haste makes waste, yanno? Running headlong into danger is not going to help you in the long run.” Rallen didn’t say anything, but it was clear he wasn’t happy. “…Right, anyway; let’s go.”

 

The trip to the residential district took them a little longer, mostly because the NPP officers had to learn how to use the appliances provided to them. While transportation from district to district was free, you were still required to pass a scanner for your bracelet, and once you reach the platform, select where you wished to go. And since the words were written in a language they didn’t know, they needed Xerran as a translator. This gave them a number for the ferry they were required to take to their desired district.

After only a few minutes of waiting, they were aboard the ferry and well on their way. The inside was cozy enough, but whereas transports in Nanairo would be full of chatter and a bustle of activity, the ferry was almost sterile. Oh sure, people talked, but it was very minimal and they kept their conversations quiet enough that no one else could overhear them. Most, however, kept to themselves and merely sat or stood, either looking ahead of them, out the window, or around them in something akin to suspicion.

Then again, the majority of occupants were the same type of people walking around the Hunters’ District.

Eventually, Jeena decided to break the silence that had descended on them in favor of asking about something she was curious about.

“Hey, Xerran.”

“Yeah?”

Jeena paused briefly, unsure, before she just pressed on. “That woman that bumped into us earlier… the one with the eyepatch… do you know who she is?”

Rallen looked at Jeena in slight surprise, before he, too, looked at Xerran.

“Hm…? Oh, you mean the RAmarl?” he asked, before he shrugged his shoulders. “Dunno. Never worked with her before, so…”

“Uh… sorry, but… ‘Ramar’?” Rallen questioned with a small frown.

“You forgot the ‘l’,” Xerran pointed out. “RAmar is a male human Ranger, RAmarl is a female human Ranger.”

“Oh,” Rallen got out, before he frowned. “So… what are you.”

“FOmar” was the immediate response. “Male human Force.”

“Whuh? The hell is a Force?”

But before Xerran could answer, the speakers above them called out a series of numbers, making Xerran look up, before he stood up. “This’s our stop. Let’s go.”

Though a bit startled, the pair quickly got up and followed Xerran out, along with a small group of others.

Once back at the platform, Xerran moved back to the selection board.

“Right… so the Hunters’ District isn’t on here by default,” he said when Rallen and Jeena joined him. “To access it, you need to pull out this pad,” as he said that, he pressed down on the side of the holographic board, and then pulled it out, revealing what they assumed was a numeric keypad, though the “numbers” made no sense to either of them. “Then you type in your Hunter ID code, tap the marker that pops up and you’re done,” he said as he moved it back. “I’ll get you your ID’s once we get you settled in.”

Rallen resisted the urge to grumble something under his breath, and instead nodded as he adjusted his hold on Komainu and followed after with Jeena.

 

The actual residential district was, in a way, similar to Kollin’s, only the buildings were at least 10 times as tall, likely because there were just so many people living on Pioneer 2. There were a lot more people out on the streets, and, shockingly enough, they were actually greeting each other and sometimes even stopping for small talk. Most of them were dressed in what they assumed to be casual clothing, but they were still formal in a way. It was definitely a sight to see.

“Yes, we _can_ actually be friendly,” Xerran said with a laugh as he saw their expressions.

Jeena’s cheeks immediately flared in embarrassment, and Rallen spluttered for words to try and explain their reasoning. However, Xerran interrupted before they could try and justify themselves.

“I know, I know… The Hunters all act like jackasses, but like I said; we’re just having some issues that don’t allow us to be friendly. Normally, I’d say get used to it… but eh. You probably won’t be here long enough to do so.”

Rallen didn’t say anything in response, but he did clench his fist in response.

Because he really hoped so… he honestly did.

 

“Aaaand this one’s yours,” Xerran said as they finally stopped by one of the doors. “Just scan your bracelet and the door will open.”

Jeena looked at Xerran oddly, but she did what he said anyway. The console beeped once, and then the door opened smoothly. “Wow…”

“Heh. Nifty,” Rallen quipped as they walked into the small apartment.

It was pretty basic; it had everything they needed, but it was pretty sterile. The floors and ceiling were off-white, with the walls a light bluish-gray.

“Yeah, it’s bland… but again, not expecting you guys to be here long,” Xerran admitted.

Rallen hummed as he set down Komainu, who immediately went to explore. “It’ll do, I suppose…”

Xerran nodded briefly, before he reached back to his neck. “And on that note…”

**_Click_ **

Xerran’s clothes lit up a bright white, and then, right before their eyes, the long robe and hat vanished, changing into some easy trousers and dark purple shirt. And he completely ignored their surprised stares as he stretched his arms over his head, cracking the joints loudly.

“Gah… I needed that…” Xerran mumbled.

“Wow! That was amazing! How did you do that?!” Rallen asked in awe.

The sudden interest had Xerran blinking, before he smirked and turned around while lifting up his hair. “This thing,” he quipped, pointing to a device that appeared to be secured at the back of his neck. The most notable fact about it was the luminescent disc resting just at the base of his neck. “See that disc? That basically holds the data for both my uniform and casuals. So I can basically switch whenever I want.”

“That’s… actually pretty cool,” Jeena admitted, even though she was just as impressed as Rallen looked.

Xerran simply shrugged as he dropped his hair again. “I suppose… anyway, you guys want a drink?”

 

“Okay…” Xerran said finally, once they were all sitting on the couches, nursing their respective drinks. “Figure it’s about time I told you ‘bout our situation, huh?”

Rallen tried to contain his excitement over _finally_ getting some information, but it was extremely difficult. “Sounds good,” he said with a nod, as Komainu hopped into his lap to snuggle.

“Yes, please,” Jeena agreed with a nod after she finished her sip of what she believed to be soda… though Xerran called it “root beer”, or something.

“Right…” Xerran took a heavy breath, shutting his eyes briefly, before he exhaled slowly. “As I said earlier, Pioneer 2 is a colonization ship. Our goal here is to colonize Ragol for the purpose of… well, having a home again.”

“Wait… what do you mean ‘again’?” Rallen asked slowly, not sure if he liked where this was going.

“What I mean… is that we have nowhere else to go,” Xerran confirmed as he spun his cup in his hand. “Our planet was dying, and there was nothing we could do to stop it. We had no other choice but to look to the stars and test our luck out here. Thus; two ships were created. They were called Pioneer 1, and Pioneer 2. Yes, I know, lame, but I didn’t decide those,” he added with a chuckle at the bemused look on Rallen’s face. “Anyway, Pioneer 1 was meant to go out, find a suitable planet and prepare it for colonization, and then Pioneer 2 would bring in the colonists to finish up.” He paused there to gesture out the window, where they could just barely see Ragol over the many buildings outside. “And they found Ragol… fifteen years ago.”

“That’s… quite a long time ago…” Jeena breathed.

Xerran nodded in confirmation. “Now, Pioneer 1 consisted mostly of scientists, engineers, architects, builders, you get the point. There were, of course, Hunters with them for protection, but their number was fairly limited.” Another pause, this time to take a swig from his drink. “So, they spent fifteen years preparing the place, cataloging wildlife and ensuring the place was… yanno, safe. And all early statistics pointed to it, too. The creatures didn’t attack unless directly provoked; in fact they mostly left people alone to their own devices.”

“Wait time out!” Rallen suddenly said. “You said… fifteen years, right?”

“I know what you’re about to ask, and yes, there’s a good chance that Pioneer 1 found your friend when he crashed down there.”

“So why didn’t anyone bring him back?!”

“My guess? There was no time or opportunity. They likely didn’t have the resources to make the trip for him. The idea was probably to get him home once Pioneer 2 came with the colonists.”

Jeena frowned as she considered everything she had just heard. And something just didn’t fit. “Xerran?”

“Hmhmm?”

“How long have you been out here?”

At that, the man hummed as he thought for a moment. “…Like a month or two, I suppose.”

Rallen frowned as he caught on to what Jeena was talking about. “But if Pioneer 1 already cleared the way… why are you still here?”

“See, that’s the problem…” Xerran sighed out. “We’ve lost all contact with Pioneer 1 the moment we came into range of Ragol.”

“ _What?!_ ” Rallen choked out, and Jeena stared openly.

“But… why? What happened?”

“No one knows…” Xerran admitted. “The only thing we know for sure is that there was some kind of explosion planet-side… and ever since, there’s been complete radio silence with Pioneer 1.”

“An explosion?” Rallen questioned, and he had a terrible feeling in his gut. He was actually fearing that the Krawl had come in to invade the planet… but he _so_ hoped they hadn’t. As good as they were, three times was already two times too much, thank you.

“Well… we think it was, anyway…” Xerran murmured, rubbing the back of his head. “Thing is… no one’s really sure at this point. There’s really no structural damage from where the explosion began, or any sign that it ever happened. Problem is, though, _everyone_ on Pioneer 2 saw it; the whole thing was broadcast station-wide, so… yeah.”

“That’s… horrible…” Jeena whispered.

“…And that’s when the creatures got violent?” Rallen asked cautiously.

“That’s what everyone believes, yeah. The information we have on them appearance-wise is all good, but their behavior is _aaaaaall_ over the place. Something happened down there on Ragol… and no one know what or how.”

“Maybe they messed up in a lab somewhere?” Rallen offered, to which Jeena rolled her eyes with a small groan.

Xerran, however, laughed. “Oh if only it were that simple… but no; the ‘explosion’ happened just outside of where Pioneer 1 was situated. Much as we were hoping it was, no. Our past expeditions have already proven as much.” He took another breath then, and then delivered the bombshell. “Pioneer 1… is completely abandoned.”

It was a good thing that Rallen had already finished his drink, because the cup slipped right through his fingers and hit the ground, bouncing twice more before rolling away. Jeena was able to hold onto her cup, but only by squeezing it tightly in both hands as the entire situation came crashing down.

“…and here’s why I said what I said back at the Principal’s office…” Xerran looked right at Rallen then, his expression solemn. “As much as I don’t want to say it, this needs to be said… if the person you’re looking for was down on Ragol… if he was in Pioneer 1… he may already be gone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I think that’s long enough…  
> Originally, you never see anything of PSO (Episode 1) aside from the Hunters’ District, so I took some creative liberties in designing the rest of Pioneer 2. The actual apartments are based off of PSU rooms, though. Also the changing gizmo on their necks.  
> Another thing that’s never fully explored (that I know of) is the actual length of time it took for Ragol to be prepared. However, if it’s anything like here, I would assume all that preparation would take several years, if not a decade, at the very least.
> 
> PSO classes introduced:  
> Forces – Spellcasters with limited physical strength.  
> FOmar – Force-human-male.   
> Rangers – Gunslingers with high accuracy and reasonable attack power.  
> RAmar – Ranger-human-male  
> RAmarl – Ranger-human-female.


	6. Chapter 6

Shortly after his explanation, Xerran left them to their own devices, telling them to take their time and figure out what they wanted to do. He also made sure to tell them how to reach him through the bracelets they’d been given, before he left them alone. Wherever he went, they didn’t know, but if they had to guess, he was likely heading back to the Hunters District.

Not that Rallen was in much of a mood to guess, mind you.

He was just sitting on the couch, lost in thought and just staring down at the floor. Not only was it highly unusual for him to act this way, Jeena had no idea how to get him out of it. With anyone else, she’d probably tell them to man up and pull themselves together, but in the current situation, that was likely the worst thing she could possibly do.

Eventually, though, she felt like she had to do this.

“Rallen…” she called out, and then she paused as he finally raised his eyes to her, unsure. “…what do you want to do?”

He didn’t respond. Not right away, anyway. He merely lowered his gaze one more time to the floor, but this time he was thinking. She could tell by the furrowed eyebrows. And finally, he stood up, startling Komainu who had been sitting on the couch next to him.

“Let’s go look for him.”

That didn’t surprise her one bit. She wanted to point out what Xerran had said prior, but she shook it off for the moment. Knowing Rallen, he’d believe his brother was dead only if/when he saw the actual body. So she only said one word in response to the declaration.

“Alright.”

 

After making the final preparations, Rallen and Jeena headed out and back to the transit station. They decided to leave Komainu back in the apartment for the time being, though; they were hoping for this to not be a fourth repeat of the Krawl, but if needed, they could (hopefully) call upon the other Spectrobes if necessary.

Getting back to the Hunters’ District was much easier than they’d anticipated, although they were still not entirely sure how they were supposed to know from the intercom what their stop was, so instead they paid attention to the surroundings to estimate where they were.

When they finally came back and they were in the familiarity of the area, including its almost hostile occupants, they paused (well out of the way of others so they couldn't be bumped into). After a few moments of standing there and watching people go about their way, Jeena finally spoke up again.

“Okay, so we're here… Xerran said we could reach Ragol through the teleporter by the Hunters' Guild.”

“Yeah. He said we were cleared to go down whenever, so let's get a move on!”

Jeena had no reason to disagree with him, and so they started heading for the teleporter, making sure not to bump into anyone again. And thankfully, they managed to do so in very little time, too.

“Right… this is the place,” Rallen mumbled as the heavy door opened automatically, sliding upward into the ceiling and revealing a massive teleporter. “Should be easy enough to get down there.”

“Agreed,” Jeena said with a nod.

However, just as they were about to descend…

“ _Xielg xiacdeuh_ ,” a voice quipped as there was a quick tap on Jeena’s shoulder. When she looked over, she found herself looking at a young man with long, deep red hair that hung around his face in several ponytails, with one hanging over his forehead, and icy blue eyes. “You two got any objections if I join you?”

He was wearing what appeared to be like a standard uniform with long, knee-length boots, done in dark red and black, and the same golden circle secured to his chest, with the same emblem in it as Xerran had. He looked like an okay, rather overly friendly guy, unlike some of the other people they’d met in the district.

Still…

“Um… sorry, who are you?” was the first thing Jeena was able to get out amidst her confusion.

As Rallen looked over as well, the man blinked, before he slapped himself to the forehead. “ _Cred!_ Keep getting ahead of myself…” he grumbled, before he grinned. “Name’s Saku. _Hela du saad oui._ ”

Rallen blinked twice, before he went: “Uuhh… hayluah wha…?”

“…Woops!” the man—Saku, was it?—quipped with an embarrassed chuckle. “Sorry; keep forgetting not everyone speaks that one… Basically means ‘Nice to meet you’.”

Both Rallen and Jeena gave a respective “oh”, as they regarded the man for a moment. After exchanging a quick look with each other, Jeena turned to face the new arrival and asked the question they both wanted answers to. “Why are you asking us?”

“Well… I just thought… I was gonna go anyway and you guys were just heading out, so…” Saku mumbled as he scratched the back of his neck for a moment, in a way that was very similar to Rallen. Suddenly, though, he blinked and looked between the two of them – several times. “ _Fyed…_ Oh. Oh am I interrupting a date here?”

“ _What?!_ ” Rallen and Jeena exclaimed at the same time in shock/alarm. “No!”

“Hey, it’s cool, _titac_ ,” Saku quipped as he held up his hands. “I can take a hint. I’ll wait ‘til you’re off.”

“No no! I-it’s not…!” Jeena stammered, her cheeks redder than the newcomer’s hair. “It’s not like that at all!”

Rallen swiftly cleared his throat and, before Saku can get any more ideas, he said: “W-we’re just partners! That’s all!” Saku looked like he didn’t really believe it, but Rallen quickly added: “If you wanna come with, be our guest!”

Though Jeena seemed to have her doubts at first, she quickly nodded, if only to wave of Saku’s earlier suspicion.

However, Saku still seemed unsure, his eyes narrowed slightly. “You sure, man?”

“Sure I’m sure! Hell, you'd be doing us a favor,” Rallen admitted. “We're kinda new to Ragol, so any sense of direction would be appreciated.”

After a moment more of hesitation, Saku’s expression finally lightened up and his grin almost perfectly matched Rallen’s then. “Oh! First time on Ragol, huh? I know that feel… Coolio! Let’s be off then! _Uhfynt!_ ”

 

The trip down to Ragol took them less than a minute. It was like they blinked once and then they were gone from Pioneer 1 and back down on the surface. Well, maybe not “blinked”, since they did shut their eyes as they were teleported away. After blinking away the stars from their sight, both Rallen and Jeena glanced around, trying to find where they were.

They’d warped in within the middle of an open field, but there was really nothing around them that could hint at where they were or where they were supposed to be going.

“Okay, where do we go now?” Jeena asked after a while, though she wasn’t expecting much right away. Knowing Rallen, he probably hadn’t thought too far ahead of where he now wanted to go. And sure enough, as her partner looked around, he gave a slight hum that sounded a little unsure.

But before he could offer a direction.

“55.7 latitude… 12.6 longitude…”

Upon those words, Rallen and Jeena turned toward Saku, who was currently in the middle of examining a holographic map with numerous symbols flashing across it as he moved his fingers along it, mumbling under his breath. “…Hildebear nest should be somewhere over… there…” he murmured, absently pointing to his left. “…Gooma territory is… that way… sooo… Great!” he exclaimed then as he shut the map and turned on the pair with a grin. “We’re like a stone’s throw away from Pioneer 1! We keep going and we’ll be there in like 10 minutes.”

“Wait… we’re that close?!” Rallen asked in surprise.

“Yep!” the redhead quipped with his grin still in place. “ Guess we got lucky!”

“ _Beep-beep!_ ”

“Gah! Soniti! Hush up! We just started, darnit!!” Saku suddenly exclaimed to the small hovering object by his shoulder. It actually sort of looked like a metallic white rabbit that was currently bobbing out of Saku's immediate range when the redhead tried to hit it.

Jeena actually giggled absently as Saku finally gave up chasing after the rabbit with a heavy sigh. “Well, you're more familiar here than we are. Lead the way.”

“You got it! …uh, _cred_ … I don't think I uh…”

This time Rallen laughed. “No prob, man. I'm Rallen, and this is my partner, Jeena.”

Saku returned Rallen's grin with his own, before he tapped the gauntlet on his left wrist. And as he held up his hand, a hefty-looking partisan materialized in his hand, which was instantly slung over his shoulder. “Well good to meetcha! So, shall we progress?”

 

The trip through the jungles was a brief one. Like Saku had said, they got through in about ten minutes, and when they did, the grassy fields made place for roads decorated with smooth, half-round pebbles, methodically placed in a way that was too precise to be entirely manual. Ahead of them, beyond the few trees that were still visible, they saw a large gate of some kind, seemingly made of stone, with a holographic number lit up along its surface.

“Is that the entrance?” Rallen asked.

“One of many,” Saku said as they walked up. “This thing’s part of the enclosure to keep hostiles out.” As they stopped in front of it, the redhead frowned. “…and it’s not opening. _Knaaaaaayyyyd…_ ”

“What? What does that mean?” Rallen questioned, but Jeena could already guess.

“We got hostiles… that’s what…” their new friend said as he brought down the partisan and readied it in both hands. “Get ready.”

Frowning, Rallen rolled his shoulders briefly, and then brought out his sword, while Jeena got out her gun, stepping somewhat back while the two men took the front line.

“So…” Rallen asked after a moment. “What are we up against? Wolves? Gooma’s?”

“That’d be the least of our worries…” Saku admitted as he rolled his partisan between his fingers. “I just hope—…! _CRED!!_ Move _move **move!!**_ ” he howled as he grabbed both of the an dragged them away from the “doorway”, just as a massive beast smashed down on the spot they had been standing mere moments ago.

“The heck is _that_!?” Rallen choked out.

It was gargantuan! Like a massive gorilla, but its face was much less human, and it had to large curved spines sticking out from its shoulders. Its fur was black with pinkish-red along the hands, upon which it rested part of the weight that clearly came from its massive torso.

“ _That…_ is a Hildebear…” Saku mumbled softly as he leveled his weapon and the massive beast gave an almost unnatural sound as it raised itself to its full height and slammed its fists against its chest furiously – again, much like a gorilla. “This… _iiiiis_ bad…”

Rallen frowned, as he recalled Xerran mentioning Hildebears before, and saying they were likely the cause of their ship crashing into Ragol. But how…?

And then the Hildebear inhaled.

“OH _CRED!!_ ” Saku yowled, and he shoved them aside, just as the beast barfed out a massive ball of fire.

‘Ah. _That’s_ ‘how’…’

“How many of these are there?!” Jeena demanded once they had managed to scramble back to their feet.

Saku summoned a brief map of the area and only skimmed it once before dismissing it. “Might be another nearby… but I’d rather take this one out first.”

“Agreed,” Rallen growled. “Jeena… try to distract it from a distance.”

“Roger.”

“Saku, you ready?”

“Pft!” Saku chuckled, his expression twisting into one of cold amusement. “ _E fyc PUNH nayto!_ ”

He wasn’t sure what _that_ meant, but given the expression, it was probably an affirmative. “Right! Let’s do this!! _IKU ZE!!_ ”

And as Jeena fired the first shots at the Hildebear, making it roar and try to bat away at the shots, both Rallen and Saku shot forward, almost like a pair of bullets themselves. Their feet slammed against the ground and propelled them forward in perfect unison as if they’d trained and practiced this for years. As the Hildebear saw them coming it lunged at Saku, but he leaped up and to the side, over Rallen as the NPP officer ducked under the beast’s other arm, sword snapping out and biting into its hide. And as it roared, Saku spun a full 360 degrees in midair and dragged the partisan’s sizzling blade across its torso.

The Hildebear roared as it stumbled, and it howled as Jeena shot it several more times, forcing it back even further. Just as Saku landed again, he shot forward, under the same arm that Rallen had gone under, while Rallen did a full 180 and ran back under the other arm. And as they did, their weapons bit deeply into the Hildebear’s legs, and with a howl of agony, it fell to the ground with a loud thud.

They didn’t give it the chance to get up, though; immediately upon it hitting the ground, Rallen and Saku brought up their weapons and thrust them into the beast's torso, killing it instantly.

And when they finally stepped back and simply breathed for a moment, they briefly glanced at each other, as if about to say something, but they shook it off and swiftly rejoined Jeena. Said officer had turned her attention instead to the surrounding area, just to ensure nothing else popped out at them to surprise them. Not that it helped, though…

As the two men joined her, a pack of Wolves leapt from the undergrowth, surrounding them in mere moments.

“Crap… there's a lot of ‘em this time…” Rallen growled in annoyance.

“Take out the Barbarous Wolf first,” Saku whispered, nodding his head to the blue-skinned Wolf. “The loss of their alpha throws their whole unity in disarray.”

“Right.”

Saku exhaled briefly as he lightly rotated his limbs, spinning his weapon once more. “ _Yht ku ku KU!_ ”

Rallen immediately shot for the Barbarous Wolf, while Saku lunged to the side and knocked aside one of the other Wolves as it lunged for Jeena, with said officer immediately shooting it down before it could finish its drop. And as it fell, Rallen effortlessly darted around the other Wolves that tried to get to him, and lashed out at the Barbarous Wolf the moment he was in range.

Of course, it jumped out of the way swiftly, forcing Rallen to dodge another Wolf before Jeena shot it down. Grunting a quick thanks under his breath, Rallen bunny-hopped over the next Wolf and, once again, homed in on the Barbarous Wolf. And this time he was faster and his sword easily cut through the beast and it fell with a howl of agony.

And like Saku had said, the entire unity of the pack fell apart then, allowing them to cut through the pack with ease.

The moment the last one succumbed to its injuries, there was a loud beep from behind them, making them look over in surprise.

“Door,” Saku mumbled. “Let’s get the heck outta here!!”

Rallen and Jeena were quick to follow.

 

Thankfully, they made it through the heavy gates before anything else could jump at them, which gave them a few seconds to breathe. Once they had collected their breath, they straightened up and glanced around.

“So…” Saku started then, his breath still a little heavier than normal, “first time to Pioneer 1, right?”

“Pretty much,” Rallen admitted with a half-shrug.

Saku nodded as he straightened up, slinging his partisan across both shoulders with his arms resting on top. “Well, in normal situations, I'd offer a full tour of the place, but uh… yeah.” He paused to look around. “Fraid there's not much to see right now.”

Unlike Pioneer 2's cold, black exterior, Pioneer 1 was colored in light pastels of cream with bright colored markings along the walls, and even with its slightly bland design, it looked very inviting. As they regarded the place though, they soon came to a startling realization; the entire place appeared to be completely untouched, and yet there wasn't a speck of life to be seen anywhere. The place was deathly quiet aside from the occasional chirps from the nature around them.

It was, just as Xerran had said, completely abandoned.

“What happened to all the people, you think, Saku?” Jeena asked after a moment of thought.

“Honestly? I ain't got a clue,” the redhead admitted with a shrug. “Maybe they ran… maybe they hid… maybe they died. But wherever they are and whatever really happened, no one stayed behind.”

Rallen obviously didn’t like the third ‘maybe’ that Saku offered, but the longer he looked around, the more he realized that, with all the beasts out there, there was a pretty good chance of that one. Xerran had said that the majority of people on Pioneer 1 had been people with little (if any) battle experience, so if they’d been forced into a battle, they would’ve had no chance.

…but Rex was a fighter. Surely, he wouldn’t die so easily… would he…?

He could probably think a lot better if there weren’t so many bugs bothering him with their buzzing.

“Gah… damn bugs…” Rallen mumbled, waving his hand by his ears as if it would clear it. But it only seemed to be getting worse. And then Jeena’s voice resounded through the air;

“ _Rallen! Behind you!!_ ”

Rallen was about to turn around, but Jeena had suddenly pulled out her gun and fired at something behind him. And instantly, the buzzing stopped… somewhat.

As he whirled around, he blinked once, before he paled in shock.

“Whoa!!” he yowled as he ducked under the giant purple mosquito that had lunged right for his face with its stinger. “Those are some big mosquitoes!!”

“Oh are you kidding?!” Saku demanded as he snapped his blade out, clipping another mosquito. “The Mothmants made a nest here?! _Drec ec CU hud vih!_ ”

As Rallen took out a bug as well, with Jeena shooting at the other incoming ones, he demanded: “How many are there?!”

“Unlimited if we don’t destroy the nest!” Saku growled as he began to dart around, dodging left and right out of range from the giant bugs. “Keep ‘m busy for a while! Thing should be around here somewhere!!”

“Keep ‘m busy, he says,” Rallen grumbled as he cut down another mosquito – or Mothmant, as Saku had called them – with Jeena shooting the rest out of the sky. They were definitely insistent if nothing else, but they were also extremely annoying. “Bug off!”

In any other situation, Jeena would’ve whacked Rallen for the lame pun, but since she was too busy shooting at said bugs, she made a mental note to do so later.

Suddenly there was a sharp, stabbing pain in her arm and she instinctively screamed out in agony.

Rallen immediately whirled around and his eyes went wide as he saw one of the Mothmants with its stinger pushed up her arm. Blood was slowly beginning to leak from the wound and as a sudden realization came to him, Rallen shot forward and lashed out. His blade cleanly sliced the Mothmant to pieces, but the clean cut left the stinger, which, while bad in and of itself, was still better than the alternative of having Jeena bleed to death when it was taken out.

Jeena stumbled from the pain, trying to reach for the stinger in a weak attempt to take it out, but Rallen caught her hand and quickly pulled her up against him with one arm, trying very hard not to jostle her too much lest he make things worse. As he kept her uninjured arm pinned to her side, he ducked to the ground and pulled out his own gun instead, shooting at every Mothmant around them and cutting down the few that came too close.

That didn’t make it any easier, though; there just didn’t seem to be an end to them!

“Ah _cred!_ ” came a familiar voice, just as a familiar curved blade sliced through one of the Mothmants that Rallen had just barely missed with his sword. “Oy! Is she alright?!”

Stupid question; _of course_ she wasn’t, but Rallen didn’t point that out. He merely grunted once and shot down another Mothmant.

“Right; dumb question. Forget I asked,” Saku grumbled as he dealt with two in one slice. “These should be the last ones!”

“They better be! I won’t be responsible for what happens next if this takes too damn long!”

“I get it already!! Esh!”

 

True to his word, they had the rest of the Mothmants taken out within a minute more, which finally gave them the opportunity to properly check on Jeena.

“Oh _cred_ … that looks bad…” Saku hissed as Rallen adjusted his hold, feeling Jeena’s forehead.

She was burning up, sweating, gasping for air, and she was staring out of her eyes blankly. The only real good point was that the wound wasn’t bleeding as much as it could if the stinger had been removed before the wound could be staunched properly. That could’ve potentially led to her bleeding out in moments, as Rallen remembered from the little bit of medical class he had actually remembered.

“Do those things carry diseases?” Rallen demanded worriedly, and while Saku didn’t say anything in response, the way he bit his lip said enough; they did. “Dammit…!”

“…can I check her arm? I’ll be careful.”

Rallen frowned darkly, silently promising extreme pain to the redhead should he break his word, but he did nod his head. Saku scooted closer and softly, cautiously, pushed his fingers along Jeena’s arm, pulling back immediately when Jeena’s body jumped and she let out an instinctive whimper/whine.

“ _Cred_ … We gotta get her back to medical; this’ll get ugly real fast if we don’t!”

“And how do you want to get there before she gets even worse?!”

“Same way everyone does! Duh!” But Rallen had no chance to respond as the redhead pushed down on his gauntlet “Telepipe!!”

In moments, a familiar bright light exploded before his eyes and Rallen, immediately, shut his eyes and covered                Jeena’s at the same time, not sure if she could shut hers in time. And when he was able to blink again, they were back on Pioneer 2, in the Hunters’ District.

‘I gotta learn how they do that!’

“Rallen! This way! Hurry!!”

Shaking the matter off, Rallen picked up Jeena (carefully) and hurried after Saku as the man dashed ahead of him. He didn’t even care if he slammed into someone on the way (though he did make sure he didn’t bump Jeena into anyone) and just ran as fast as he could.

Thankfully he didn’t have to run far. In fact, medical was right across from the teleporter that would take one to Ragol. As Rallen entered, Saku was already explaining the woman on duty the situation, and she and one of her colleagues took over almost the moment he stopped by the desk. They took Jeena off his hands (literally) and got her into a separate room off to the side for treatment, leaving the two men alone.

‘Dammit…!’ Rallen clenched his fists tightly as he cursed. Not at anything in particular, though perhaps a little bit at himself. He should’ve been more careful… should’ve watched her! They were partners! They were supposed to be looking out for _each other dammit!_

“…you sure you two ain’t hooked up?”

Saku’s voice by his shoulder had him jumping up with a yowl before he whirled on the redhead. “Wha?! This again!? Dude, I told you! We’re just—”

“Oh come off it,” Saku hissed suddenly, his expression suddenly very dark. “You’re looking like Pops when Ma fell down a shaft and nearly broke her back; like the world’s ‘bout to come crashing down and smush you to the pavement.”

Rallen flinched at the words. Not so much for the comparison, but more about the way he must look at that time. Still…

“Look; it doesn’t matter! We’re partners and that’s the end of it,” he pointed out. “Hell, she probably wouldn’t have even bothered if we weren’t.”

“…and?”

Rallen blinked at the single word, watching Saku as he crossed his arms over his chest. “…and what?”

“And what’s your point?” the man clarified. “You gonna worry ‘bout the ‘what ifs’ forever? The point of the matter is that you _are_ partners, you _are_ stuck together and _goddammit_ you two are **_SO_** obviously fawning over each other it’s a miracle no one else’s noticed yet!”

“…” Rallen wasn’t sure how to react to that. Not right away anyway, before he looked to the floor and to the side. “…is it that obvious?”

“ _Cred!_ Would I say it if it wasn’t?” Saku grumbled as he twirled the ponytail hanging over his forehead around his finger. “Look, dude; I ain’t gonna try and order you around and tell you what you should or shouldn’t do, but lemme say this…” He paused to take a deep breath, before he said: “Life’s too short for regrets, alright? You keep chasing after and staying out of reach like that and eventually something or someone’s gonna snatch your target right from under your nose. And then where will you be?”

That was a pretty accurate analogy, he supposed… not perfect, of course, but accurate enough.

There was something else that was suddenly dawning on him, though…

“…you said ‘fawning over each other’…?”

“Well, yeah, _duh_. She _totally_ digs you, dude,” Saku said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Look, I might not be able to tell faces apart, but I can tell when someone’s got it going for someone, alright?”

“Wait wha…? What do you—”

“Staying off of _that_ subject for now!” Saku said immediately, holding up his hand to stop the question. “Deal with that later. Look; I’m gonna head out. Get some extra supplies. You stay here and watch your partner. If she’s still feeling up to it after, we can head back out and get to work. _Caa oui mydan._ ”

And then he walked around Rallen and promptly walked out the door.

‘…gotta figure out that language…’ Rallen thought absently, before he turned back to the door through which the nurses had taken his partner and rubbed his arm absently. ‘…like it’s really that easy… but…’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not how I’d intended to end the chapter initially, but it works.  
> So Saku’s the last character to join the roster from PSO, so now we have one of each; a Hunter, a Ranger and a Force. For now, we’ll be dealing with one of each at a time, but later we’ll have everyone teaming up together.  
> Also, and I really want your guys opinion on this, so please review on this matter, I’ve suddenly had the idea of making an alternate version of “Confidant” in which Rex actually doesn’t go missing. Anyone interested in that take?
> 
> Oh! And chocolate chip cookies go to those who recognize the tongue Saku sometimes switches to.
> 
>  
> 
> PSO enemies introduced:  
> Hildebears – Large gorilla-like beasts with spines along the shoulders. They spit fire, swing at you with their fists and if you’re too far away, they’ll jump at you… from halfway across the map.  
> Mothmants – Giant purple mosquitoes. ‘nough said.
> 
> PSO classes introduced:  
> Hunters – Melee fighters with considerable power behind each blow.  
> HUmar – Hunter-human-male.

**Author's Note:**

> Where the devil did THIS come from? I wasn’t even thinking of either of these games when the idea came to me. WTF??  
> Well, in any case… those who know both games will probably realize before long how this story’s going to end. Unlike my other story about what (potentially) became of Rex, this one will NOT be a happy ending…  
> You have been warned.


End file.
